oh,Lear, Lear, Lear...kesian..

Reading King Lear needs a lot of patience..at least for me! The sentences are so hard to understand, that’s why after 2 or 3 pages I will fall asleep or maybe suddenly I change my activity from reading a play to watching cd or read magazines. It took long time for me to finish it. Although sometimes I wasn’t sure either what I understood is right, King Lear still can make me keep on reading. Thank god. Dr. Edwin had provided us with the guideline on how to read the play.

For me, the most outstanding theme for this play is about parenting. Naturally every parent loves their children and willing to sacrifice for their children’s sake. But is this what we called unconditionally love? If it is yes, the love that Lear had toward his children was natural because it had a condition. He had asked their children how much was their love towards him, although they are just lies. He believed only what he wanted to hear. And as the result, he had pushed aside the most deserved daughter, Cordelia just because she did not say what he wanted her to say.

I don’t think this is the behavior of a good father. A father should protect their children and be the shelter to them. But in return, a child should respect their father and take a good care of them when they are old. They should keep their fathers’ pride and dignity. Like Cordelia, she took care of Lear after Lear was on the run. This shows that she was a good daughter despite of everything Lear had done to her.

I don’t think also it is a right thing to ask one’s capacity of love. Love is uncountable and indescribable. To measure someone’s love is useless. You know it. Just ask your heart. The problem is just sometimes we don’t want to listen to it.